Boat



Feb. 19 1924. l

. J. J. OTTO l BOAT Fild May 28, 1919 2 sheets-shea 1 J. J. OTTO Feb. 19, 19,24.

BOAT

Filed May 28. 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 III a W W l W W Patented Feb. 19, '1924.

UNITED sTA'rEs JOHN .1. OTTO, .OI1 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

l 'mams IFI i i BOAT.

Application ined :May as, 191e. selen no. 300,38*?.

ToA all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOI-IN J. OTTO, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,

have invented certain new and useful Im-A lV'hile I am aware that it has heretofore been proposed to propel and steer boats by projectinguid jetsffrom the hull of the boat outwardly into the surrounding water, my present invention contemplates a practical application of'this vmethod of propulsion to a boat structure. y

One of the primary objects of my inven` tion is to provide a simple and practical manner of applying lthe necessary pipes and the'jet nozzles to the bottom of a boat, and to provide for covering and adequately protecting the pipes and nozzles by a steel covering comprising individual vplate sections or units which are capable of removal individually to permit access to the nozzles and pipes for purposes of cleaning or repairs.

' Another object of my invention is to provide a simple and practical controlling apparatus by which the ow of fluid under` pressure may be directed to any desired set orsets of nozzles so as to propel the boat in any desired direction, thus ena-bling its movements to 'be controlled with ease and` accuracy.

Afurther object Of the invention is the provision of novel and "improved lnozzle structures by which the propelling iuid is delivered into thevv surroundingV water to produce the most effective and efficient ret sults.

Other objects and manyof the attendant advantages'of my invention will be readily appreciated by those l,skilled in 'the art las the same becomes better understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

Referringfto the drawings,- Fig. 1 is a vside'elevatior'i ofa boat embodyingmy invention;

Fig.y 2 is a transverse sectional view therethrough, this view being somewhatdiagram- "matic in character; f v

sheathing removed; y

v steering device Y Fig. 3 is a View looling at the bottom of the boat with the false work and protecting Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic plan'viewof the boat showing the manner ofdelivering and controlling the flow'of fluidl to the nozzles;- '-`F`ig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a port-ion of' thel boat bottom; f i

f Fig. 6 is a side elevation of'one of the confk trolling valves.; i Fig. '7 is va sectional View through' the Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of the relation between one of the nozzles and its' protecting plate;

Fig. 9 is asimilar view of a modified construction; v f, f

` Fig. 10 is an end jet nozzle; l Fig. 11 is a longitudinal sectional'view showing one arrangement of the nozzle'j ets; Fig. 12 is a similar viewi'showinga modied arrangement; f i' view'of a circular multi-v Fig. 13 isa sectional view showing the jet arrangement in a'flat nozzle;

Fig. 14 is a similar view` showing a Inod-y ified jet arrangement;

Fig. 15 isa sectlonal lview adjacent the delivery en d of the nozzle Shown in Fig. 13; l

Fig. 161s a similar view of va ilat'singlef `85 Fig. 17 is a diagrammatic viewshowingy the arrangement of the pressure pump and jet nozzle;

main controlling valve;

Fig."18 vis a sectionalview through the'f controlling valves of the apparatus;

Fig. 19 is a longitudinal sectional 'view through the main controlling'valve;'and

' Fig. `2Oy is a 4diagrammatic v,view showingl the arrangement of the' valve controlling dials.

Referring to the drawings,re'ference char--r acterp21 indicates generally a boat *which `may be of any desirable size and shape and 7 equipped, as is customary with a keel 22.

Near its forward endthe keel is provided with laterally disposed jet openings 23 and 211, respectively, and likewise, near its rear end, it is provided with similar laterally`v disposedrjetv openings 25 and 26. n'Jets of fluid, suchfas water', compressed air, o'rf any otherv Huid, are ejected under pressure from vone or more of these sets of keel jets-to move theboatrlaterallyin -a manner which will circumferential slots 32 extending through an angle of at least 180 degrees, and Within the casing there is disposed a rotatable pipe or tube 33 communicating with the u per chamber through a port 34 and provide below the partition with a series of nozzle members 35 projecting into the slots v32 and terminating substantially flush with the periphery of the casing which serves to protezct the nozzle member against injury. For the purpose of strengthening the nozzles and also to excludewater from the interior of the casing, which would enter around the nozzles through the slots 32, I have provided an innery cylindrical member 36 through which the nozzles project and with which they have a snug fit, this member being carried by the nozzles and one or more arms 37 projecting from the tubular central portion 33. The top of the tubular member 33 is equipped with a wheel or disk 38 which may bev operated through gearing, cables,

or any other suitable mechanism to swing the member 33 and the nozzles in a horizontal plane in the casing. This wheel 38 is preferably detachably secured to the upper end of the member 33 and the bottom 39 of the casing is made removable to permit assembly of the parts. It will be manifest that fluid under pressure introduced to the steering device through the pipe 31 will issue in jets from the nozzles 35 into the surrounding water, and by turning the member 33 the lateral direction of the jets may be changed to steer the boat inthe desired direction. These jets also act as propelling jets and when the boat is going straight ahead, this steering device acts as an auxiliary propelling apparatus to augment the propulsive effect of the main propelling jets, which will be later described.

The water-tight bottom of the hull is indicated in Fig. 2 by reference/character 41 and over the outer face of `this bottom I apply my improved fluid jet propelling' apparatus. This apparatus may be incorporated in the bottom structure when the boat is Yoriginally built or it maybe applied to old boats if desired. Over the outer face of the boat-bottom proper 41, I provide` a falsework consisting of a series of stringere 42 and 43 extending longitudinally and transversely of the boat andl securely united together and to the boat bottom 41 so` as l to provide a rigid checker-work comprising a series of rectangular shallow boxes 44 in which the jets and fluid supply pipes are` observed that there is supported in this false work a series of laterally extending pipes 45 equipped with rearwardly projecting nozzles 46and a'series of laterally projecting pipes 47 equipped with forwardly projecting nozzles 48. The streams of fluid issuing from the nozzles 46 in a rearward direction are adapted to propel the boat forwardly and similar streams issuing from the forwardly projecting nozzles 48 are adapted to propel the boat rearwardly. The laterally extending pipes V45 are each connected with a longitudinally disposed pipe 49 extending longitudinally of the boat adjacent the keel thereof, the

pipes 49 at opposite sides of the keel being connected and supplied with fluid from a common supply pipe ,51. Similarlyv the cross-pipes 47 are connected tov longitudinal pipes 52 which inturn receive their supply of fluid from a common supply pipe 53. Suitable mechanism, whichv will 'be later described, controls a supply of fluid so that it will be delivered. to either the forward propelling nozzles or'rearward propelling nozzles and thus, by supplying fluid under pressure to one or the other sets of nozzles, the boat may be propelled forwardly or rearwardly at will.

For the purpose ofprotecting the nozzles and since the sheathing comprises a series p of the sections .or` pilates, it will be obvious that any one of them may be removed to permit access to the underlying nozzles" and pipes or for purposesv of repair or replacement when necessary.

The sheathing plates are provided with apertures through which the nozzles dis-` charge their jets. In Fig. 9 a nozzle 48 is shown as fitting relatively snugly into its protecting plate 54, the outerv end of the nozzle being beveled off flus-h with the outer surface of the plate. Instead of thus bevel ving off the nozzle at an acute angle, it may,

in some instances, be preferable to have the sheathing plates formed tovprovide depressions on their outer faces, as shown in Fig. 8, the nozzle' in this instance projecting more squarely through the platestructure and since it is somewhat withdrawn 'from therefore, to so construct vthe nozzle that it will deliver a series of .small jets, anda crosssectional view of; such amnozzle is shown in Fig. 15 wherein the body proper of the nozzle is indicated-by.reference character 56 and the jet openings by 57. A longitudinal sectionaly view of this lnozzle is shown somewhat diagrammatically `in Fig. 13 and it willbe `observed from this figure that the jets issue in substantial parallelism.

I have found, however, 'that the propulsive effect of the jets maybe further increased by causingthem to diverge as they issue from the nozzle, and in Fig. 14 va longitudinal diagrammatic section which vwill produce this effect isv shown. In this instance it will be observed that the channels which terminate in the orifices 58 are so shaped that the jets issue in divergent directions, thus producing an expansive effect in the surrounding water and correspondingly increasing the propulsive effect of the jets.

In some instances it may be preferable to employ, instead of flat nozzles such as have been described, round nozzles such as are illustrated in Figs. 10 to 12, inclusive. Re ferring to Fig. 10, 59 indicates the body of around nozzle which, as shown, is provided with a series of jet orifices 61. These orificesmay discharge their jetsin substantial `parallelism as would be done by the nozzle illustrated inl diagrammatic longitudinal vsection in Fig. 11, or the channels and orifices may be arranged as shown iin-Fig. 12 so that the jets issuing from the orifices 62 vwill diverge in all directions, thusy increasing their propulsive effect, as has been previously explained.

The water or other fluid under pressure is supplied to the various nozzles hereinbefore describedfrom a pressure `pump and is distributed to the desired nozzles by certain controlling mechanism which will now be described. Referring first to Fig. 17,y

this view illustratesfdiagrammatically the pressure producing and :a portion of the controlling mechanism; On this figure reference character 63 indicates the pressure Dump which receives the. fluid .through an intake pipe 64 and delivers it through a 1 delivery pipe 65 to a main controlling valve i 66. The pump is equipped with the usual pressure regulator 67. j, l

The maincontrolling valve 66, illustrated in Figs. 18 and 19, vcomprises a cylindrical casing' 67 in whichwis mounted a rotatable cylindrical valve member 68 provided'with an elongated port 69. The fluidunder pres.- sure is supplied to the bottom of this valve through the pipe 65 and the casing 67 .is equipped with three discharge pipes 71, 72 and73, respectively.y When the valve member 68 isturned into register with theA pipe 71, the fluid is discharged back to its origi-k nal source and no propulsiveeffect in any direction is produced.k 'When it is desired to move either forwardly or backwardly, the` port 69 is'brought into register with the `pipe 72 through which the fluid is delivered to the bottom of the valve 74 which is somelwhat similar'in structure to the valve 66 and which controls the forward` and backwardV movements of the boat. The rotatable member 75 of this valve is equipped,v

with t-he port 76 which, when brought into registerv with the pipe 53, delivers the fluid into this vpipe to the nozzles 48 through the,

piping previously described, thus propelling the boat backwardly. .Uponl adjustment of the valve to -deliver the fluid into the pipe 51, the fluid is carried by the piping system previously described-tothe jet nozzles 46,

thus propelling the boat forwardly.- The valve is also connected with a dischargepipe 77 .and when the valve is set to deliver fluid tothis pipe no propulsive effect, either forwardly or backwardly, is produced.

rIhe steering device 27 also receives its fluid from the pipe 72 through a branch 78 which, as will be apparent :from Fig. 4, de livers the fluid directly to the steering device, but in case it should be desired to utilize the nozzles 46 or 48 without at the same time using thesteering device, I have provided .a cut-off valve 79 in the pipe 78 by which the flow of fluid to the steeringl device may be lshut off `when occasion re-v quires.

The pipe 73 from the valve 66 delivers to the bottom of a valve 81, the casing of which is provided with a series of circumferential ports each connected with a pipe. The movable member 82 of the valve is provided With a port 83 adapted to register with any of the circumferential ports in the sur-` rounding casing. Viewing Fig.v 18 in con- 'nection with Fig. 4, itwill be observed that ypipe 84 leads directly to the nozzles 25 at the stern of the boat; pipe 85 leads to nozzles 26 :pipe 86 isbranched, one branch 87` connecting with pipe 84 and the other branch connecting with pipe 87 which leads to nozzles 23; pipe 88 is also branched, o-ne branch 89 leading 'to pipe -85 and theother branch v91 leading'tov pipe 92 which supplies the nozzlesl 24; pipe 93 is likewise branched, one branch 94 leading to pipe 89 which connects with pipe 89 leading to pipe 85 and the other branch 95 leading to pipe 90 which connects with pipe 87 supplying nozzles 23; pipe 96 is connected by a branch 97 with pipe 87 which communicates with pipe 84 leading to nozzles 25 Vand is .also connected by a branch 98 with pipe- 91 connected with pipe 92 leading to nozzles 24. Each of the pipes is equipped with a check valve inthe requisite positions asindicated by small circles in Fig. 4, so that fluid may flow in these pipes in one direction only.

In operation, if the port 83 of the valve 81 is brought into register successively with the various pipes upon rotation of the valve in a clockwise direction, the following operation will take place. Fluid delivered through the pipe 84 will cause the stern of the boat to be moved to the right, viewing Fig. 4. Fluid delivered through pipe 85- will cause the stern of the boat to move to Fluid delivered through pipe 86 will be discharged from nozzles 25 and 23, causing the boat to be moved bodily to the right.v Fluid discharged thro-ugh pipe 88 will be delivered from nozzles 26 and 24, causing the boat to be moved bodily to the left. Fluid discharged throughpipe93 will be delivered from nozzles 26 and 23, causing the boat to rotate in a clockwise direction about its central axis. Fluid delivered through pipe 96 will be discharged from nozzles 25 andJ 24, causing the boat torrevol-ve in a counter-clockwise direction'about itsaXis. Fluid delivered through pipe 92 will be discharged from nozzles 24, causing the bow of the boat to move to the left; and fiuid delivered through pipe 87 will bedischarged` through nozzles 23, causing the bow of the boat to move to the right.

In Fig. 6v I' have shown a modified form of the valve 81 in which the various discharge pipes, instead of being arranged radially of the casing, are disposed in vertical alignment, and in this instance, the rotatable valve member 82, instead of having one port 83, is provided upon its periphery with a series of ports 99 which are adapted to be brought one at a time into registration with their respective discharge pipes so that by rotating the cylindrical member 82 the fluid may be directed into the desired discharge pipe to produce the requisite movementl of'the boat.

The various controlling valves may be perated and manipulated by any preferred mechanical or electrical apparatus, but the controlling board from which the various valves are operated is preferably located in the wheel-house of the.L boat and, as illus.- trating one practical form of controlling board, I have shownin Fig. a layout consisting of five dials designated 101, 102, 103, 104 and 105, respectively. The dial 102 controls valve V66. When the indicatorI is. posi*` l it is moved to positionLAT, the iiuid is de,

livered through pipe 73 to valve 81. Assuming thatl the fluid is being delivered through pipe 72, the indicator on .dial'105 maybe moved to off or on positions tov render the steering device 27 inoperative or operative, as desired, this indicator being connected tocontrol the shut-off valve 79. In case this valve is open so lthat fluid will be delivered to the steering device, the indicator on dial 103 may be manipulated to cause the delivery of the jets from the steering vdevice in the requisite direction to steer the boat, this dial being connected with the wheel 38 of the steering device 27, and by movement of the indicator, will swing the nozzles intoV position to impart the requisite direction of movement to the boat. i Y

Dial 104 controls valve 74 and causes the fluid to bel discharged idly through pipe 77 when the indicator is positioned as shown in Fig. 207 or,'if the indicator is Inovedvtopor sition F the fluid is delivered through pipe 51 to the forward propelling nozzles, and when moved to position B, the Huid is delivered through pipe 53 to the rearward4 propelling nozzles.

-The indicator ony dial 101 controls valve 81 and by moving this indicator into the Various positions marked on the dial, thefiuid may be vdelivered singly to the; nozzles'23,

24, 25 or 26, or to any desired combination of these sets of nozzles, in the manner previously explained.

It is believed that my invention, itsy con# struction, and its mode ofroperation will be` understood and appreciated from the forey going without further description, and while Il have shown and described preferred em. bodiments, it lshould be obvious that the structural details are capable of a fwide range of variation without departing from the essence of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a boat, the combination of a hull', longitudinally and transversely extending stringere secured to the outer face thereof to form a checker-work over the bottom of said hull, pipes equipped with nozzles. arranged between said stringers, and a series yof removable plate-s fittedv over said nozzles to protect the sameand detachably secured to said stringers, said plates being pro-vided with openings through which said nozzles discharge.

2. In a boat, the combination of a hull, stringers attached to the outer face thereof, nozzles arranged between said stringers, and

plates attached to said stringers to cover said nozzles, said plates being provided with openings into which the delivery ends of said nozzles fit, said plates being inwardly depressed adjacent the nozzles to dispose the tips of said nozzles inside the plane of the outer face of said plates.

3. In a boat, the combination of a hull, a plurality of nozzles attached to the bottom thereof, each nozzle comprising a series of elongated passageways each tapering from its intake to its delivery end, and plates attached to said hull and covering said nozzles, said plates being provided with openings through which said nozzles discharge and inwardly depressed in the Vicinity of the nozzles to dispose the discharge ends of said nozzles inside the plane of the outer face of said plates.

4. In a boat, the combination of a hull, a plurality of sets of nozzles disposed thereon and adapted to deliver jets of Huid forwardly and backwardly, a steering device comprising a series of vertically aligned nozzles adapted to be swung horizontally to deliver jets in desired directions, a casing Within which said nozzles swing, provided with horizontal slots through which the nozzles project, a shell arranged within the casing and rotatable with the nozzles, and means for delivering fluid under pressure to said nozzles. j

5. In a boat, the combination of a hull, nozzles arranged over the outer surface thereof, removable plates disposed over said nozzles to protect the same and provided with apertures through which said nozzles discharge, said nozzles being divided by a series of longitudinally disposed tapered partitions to form a series of tapered discharge orifices, and means for supplying water under pressure to said nozzles.

JOHN J. oTTo. 

